Graduation cap



1961 T. LA MAIDA 2,995,758

GRADUATION CAP Filed Dec. 9, 1957 INVENTOR. THO/714$ AA MAI/DA 2,995,758GRADUATION CAP Thomas La Maida, 3001 Superior Ave., Cleveland Ohio FiledDec. 9, 1957, Ser. No. 701,638 2 (llaims. (Cl. 2-175) This inventionrelates to improvements in a graduation cap, also known as amortarboard, and more particularly, it relates to improved means forsecuring the locking tongues disposed at the top of the crown to alocking member disposed on the bottom surface of the cap top. Theinvention also relates to means for locking togther the longitudinaledges of the crown band and releasably securing such crown band end tothe underside of the top. The foregoing improvements are adapted to beused on graduation caps of the type disclosed in my Patent No.2,629,874, issued March 3, 1953, and my co-pending patent applicationSerial No. 665,566, filed June 13, 1957, now Patent No. 2,899,682, datedAugust 18, 1959.

Graduation caps, of the types above referred to, comprise asubstantially rigid square top portion of the crown, having a fiatoval-shaped securing member attached to the middle portion of the bottomsurface of the top, the marginal portion of said securing member beingunsecured providing a space or groove between the unsecured portion ofthe securing member and the bottom surface of the top. The side or bodyof the crown of the cap is formed from a one-piece strip or band, ofsuitable size and form, to fit around a human head when it is secured tothe top, and the upper edge of the crown body is provided with lockingtongues which are engaged in the space or groove around the outer marginof the securing member, when the top edge crown body is folded aroundthe securing member with the body extending downwardly therefrom.

The locking tongues may be formed integrally with the top edge portionof the crown body, or they may form a part of a separate securing striphaving its body portion secured to the inner surface of the side crownbody with its top margin spaced inwardly of the top margin of the crownbody a short distance, causing the upper edge of the crown body to besquarely seated against the underside of the top.

The top margin of the crown body is locked to the flat oval-shapedsecuring member disposed on the underside of the top of the crown byinserting the locking tongues in the space or groove around the outermargin of the securing strip. I have discovered that by forming orcrimping the margin of the securing strip, so that such portion isspaced from the underside of the cap a short distance, on the order of Ainsertion of the locking tongues is greatly facilitated, therebypermitting the side crown body to be quickly and easily secured to theunderside of the top.

I have also discovered that by providing a releasable locking cliphaving a pointed end adapted to be inserted in the underside of the topand a portion clamping together the two overlapping ends of the sidecrown body, the side crown body is firmly locked or secured to thebottom surface of the top and any tendency of the crown body to becomeseparated or pull away from the top is overcome.

Therefore, an object of this invention is to form a securing member onthe undersurface of the top, of a cap of the type described, with itsmarginal portion spaced from the lower surface of the top a shortdistance, for facilitating the insertion of the locking tongues in saidgrooves in order to secure the side crown body to the cap top, theforegoing formation of the securing .mem-

fates Patent F Patented Aug. 15, 1961 and her being accomplished byrelatively simple and inexpensive means.

Other objects of this invention are, to provide a simple, effective andrelatively inexpensive means for clamping or locking together theoverlapping edge portions of the side of the crown by means adjustableto provide various crown sizes, said means being quickly and readilyoperated, and providing means whereby relative rotation between thecrown body and the securing member is prevented, and the top edge of thecrown body is prevented from pulling away or separating from the lowersurface of said top, the foregoing being accomplished by a single,relatively simple operation.

Other objects of this invention are, to provide a cap of the typedescribed, formed of component parts, each formed by relatively simpleand inexpensive operations, said cap being constructed and arranged insuch manner that it may be shipped in flat disassembled form and readilyassembled by simple folding and forming operations, said cap beingreadily adjustable to suit individual size requirements, and being neatand attractive in appearance, and serviceable in use.

These and further objects of the invention will be apparent during thecourse of the following description.

In the drawings forming a part of this specification- FIG. 1 is a viewof the blank from which the side or body of the crown of the cap isformed, illustrating the locking tongues and the securing clip foranchoring the crown body to the top;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the inside of the crown band illustratingits attachment to the securing member and showing the securing clip inits operative position, clamping the side crown body to the underside ofthe cap, taken on line 22 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 3 is a broken sectional view taken on the line 33 of FIG. 2, drawnto a larger scale, and illustrating the securing clip in its clampingposition;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the securing clip; and

FIG. 5 is a schematic assembled bottom plan view, showing the procedureof assembly in phantom.

The illustrative embodiment of the invention herein disclosed is appliedto a complete graduation cap 10, partially illustrated in FIGS. 2, 3 and5 which includes a square crown top 11, hereinafter referred to as thetop, and a side or crown body 13, formed of a strip of material adaptedto be fitted around the head of the user when the parts are fullyassembled, the blank from which the crown body is formed beingillustrated in FIG. 1 and hereinafter is some times referred to as ablank. The top 11 may be formed of cardboard, fiberboard or othermaterials permitting the ready insertion of a securing clip, hereafterdescribed.

A flat oval-shaped securing member 12, adhesively secured to theundersurface of the top 11, is provided with an unsecured portion 12aaround its outer margin, said portion 12a being bent away from the planeof the securing member 12 and having its edge portion 12b spaced fromthe underside of the top 11 a short distance, on the order of #5permitting the ready insertion of locking tongues therein, for lockingthe top edge of the crown body 13 to the underside of the top- 11through the cooperation of the tongues and the securing member, Thecrimping or forming of the unsecured marginal portion 12a of thesecuring member 12 may be accomplished in any suitable manner.

The form of the blank, from which the crown body 13 is formed, is ofcircular configuration along its top margin, while the lower edge margin14 is of a configuration corresponding to that of the familiar brace orbracket which comes to a point at its middle portion 15. A transversescoring line 16, in line with the point 15 of the side of the crown body13, permits it to be readily 3 folded for shipment. If desired, thelower edge portion of the crown body 13 may be embossed for decorativepurposes, as illustrated at 17. The upper edge portion 22 of thecrownbody 13 is provided with securing strips 21 adhesively securedthereto, the same being provided. with a plurality of integrally formedlocking tongues 23 formed by cutting away portions along one edge of thesecuring strip 21. The locking tongues 23 are adapted to be foldedinwardly from the sides of the crown 13 and inserted in the groove orspace 12c along outer margin of the securing member 12, and the sides ofcrown body 13 extend downwardly therefrom. The securing strips 21 aredisposed inwardly of the top edge 22 of the crown a relatively shortdistance, indicated at 24. A scoring line 25 along the top margin of thesecuring strip 21 permits the ready crimping or bending of the lockingtongues 23.

A locking clip 18, fully illustrated in FIG. 4, includes a flat bodyportion 19, abent-over or crimped portion 20 at the top provided with adetent 20a, while a pointed formation 29a terminating in a point 29 isdisposed at the opposite end, and a stop member 30 projecting from thesame side of the body as the clamping portion 20 of the clip 18 is on,is disposed intermediate the top and bottom thereof, A flat sleeve 31,extending transversely of the crown body 13 at one end thereof, isformed by folding over the edge portion of one end of the crown body andadhesively securing it, as indicated at 27. The width of the unsecuredor open portion of said sleeve 31 is slightly larger than the width ofthe locking clip 18 in order to permit it to be reciprocated therein.The sleeve 31 is provided along its inwardly disposed side with acut-away portion or slot 32 intermediate the ends of said sleeve, whichis engaged by the stop member 30 when the locking clip 18 is in itsretracted position, illustrated in FIG. 1, in which position thebent-over portion 20 of the clip 18 is beyond the lower margin of thecrown band, and the point 29 of the clip is wholly within the sleevemember 31. Thus, the stop member 30 of the locking clip 18 serves tolimit the outward movement of the clip 18 in the sleeve 31.

The crown body 13 is united with the lower surface of the top 11 bydisposing the top 11 with the underside disposed upwardly, and thenfolding the crown body 13 around the outer periphery of the securingmember 12. The locking tongues 23 are then inserted in the groove 120along the outer margin of the securing member 12. The ends of the crownbody 13 are then overlapped with the end having the locking clip 18disposed outwardly of the other end with the bent-over portion 20 facinginwardly. When the two ends of the side crown body 13 are thusoverlapped, the locking clip 18 is in its retracted position,illustrated in FIG. 1, having the bent-over portion 20 extending towardthe center of the cap The lower margin of the Opposite end of the crownbody 13, which is disposed inwardly of the opposite end, is providedwithsize marks or indicia 28 disposed along the lower margin which indicatethe size of the crown band. Thus, the two longitudinal ends of the crownbody 13 are overlapped a predetermined amount corresponding to the hatsize desired.

When the ends of the crown body 13 are thu overlapped the desired amountto provide the head size desired, as indicated by the position of thebent-over portion 20 of the locking clip 18 with reference to a specificsize indicia, the locking clip 18 is pressed toward the underside of thetop 11, causing the pointed formation 29 to become embedded in thematerial of the top 11, while the clamping portion 20 securely clampsthe two end portions together, as illustrated in FIG. 2. The detent 20ain the clamping portion 20 of the locking clip 18 bears against thematerial of the inner disposed crown body end for securely retaining theends of the crown body together; With the crown body 13 thus mountedaround the securing member 12, and the locking clip-18 disposed as abovedescribed, longitudinal movement of the crown body 13 4 around thesecuring member 12 is prevented, and the two lower overlapped margins ofthe crown body 13 are firmly clamped together, and any tendency of thecrown body 13 to pull away from the underside of the top 11 is overcome.V p v The crown body 13 can be readily separated from its foregoingassembled position by simply pulling the locking clip 18 away from itsembedded position in the top 11 until the stop member is prevented fromfurther movement by its engagement with the margin of slot 32 of thesleeve 31. The locking tongues 23 are then removed from their engagementin the groove 12c of the securing member 12. The crown body 13 may thenbe removed and folded transversely along the scoring line 16.

The locking clip 18 is positioned and arranged in such manner that thepointed formation 29 at the bottom thereof extends beyond the lowermargin of the clip 18 by a distance slightly less than the thickness ofthe top 11, so that the clip 18 can be embedded in the top 11sufficiently for holding purposes without having the pointed formation29 projecting through the upper surface of the top 11. The upper marginof the slot 32 of the sleeve 31 is disposed in such manner that itlimits the outward movement of said clip as the outer'margin of the slotis engaged by the stop member 30, and when the stop member 38 is thusengaged, the pointed formation 29 at the end of the clip 18- is fullyretracted from its position in the top 11, and the bent-over or clampingportion 20 of the clip is beyond the outer margins of the overlappedends of the crown body. Thus, when the crown body 13 is mounted on theunderside of the top 1.1, and the locking clip 18 is disposed in itsengaging position illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, the bent-overporlongitudinally or transversely.

' concise and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art towhich it pertains to make and use the same, and having set forth thebest mode contemplated of carrying out this invention, I state that thesubject matter which I regard as being my invention is particularlypointed out and distinctly claimed in what is claimed, it beingunderstood that equivalents or modifications of, or substitutions for,parts of the above specifically described embodiment of the inventionmay be made without departing from the scope of the invention as setforth in what is claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. A graduation cap comprising, a fiat top member, a flat oval-shapedsecuring member secured to the underside of said flat top member andprovided with an unsecured portion around its outer margin, a side crownbody extending downwardly from said top member, a multiplicity oflocking tongues extending from the upper margin of the side crown bodyadapted to be secured under the unsecured marginal portion of the flatovalshaped securing member, said side crown body having overlapping endportions and a reciprocably mounted locking member disposed transverselyin the end portion of one end of said side crown body end portion, saidlocking member having a pointed formation at its upper end inserted inthe fiat top member and a U-shaped clamping portion at its outer endclamping together the ends of the side crown body member.

2. A graduation cap comprising, a Hat top member, a flat oval-shapedsecuring member secured to the underside of said fiat top member andprovided with an 11H? secured, portion around its outer marginaledge, aheadengaging side crown body extending downwardly from said top member,said side crown body having a multiplicity of locking tongues releasablysecured beneath said unsecured marginal portion of the flat securingmember, said body having overlapped end portions, a sleeve disposed onthe inner surface of the end portion of the outer disposed body end andprovided with a slot intermediate the ends of the sleeve, a lockingmember reciprocably mounted in said sleeve, stop means projectingoutwardly from said locking member intermediate its ends in said slotand cooperating with said slot to limit the downward movement of saidlocking member, said locking member having a pointed formation at itsinner end inserted in the lower surface of said top member, and

6 a folded over portion at its outer and lower ends clamping the bodyends together.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

